“With these pieces of paper they can buy anything and pay for anything. And I can tell you that the papers that reckon as ten bezants (a quantity of money) do not weigh one. . . . There is no one that does not visit a bath-house at least three times a week and take a bath -- in winter every day, if he can manage it. Every man of rank or means has his own bathroom in his house. . . . Here too the inhabitants worship Mahomet (Muhammed) and are subject to the Great Khan. It has villages and towns in plenty. . . . There are rivers here in which are found stones called jasper and chalcedony (quartz crystals) in plenty. There is no lack in the means of life. Cotton is plentiful. The inhabitants live by trade and industry.” Marco Polo, The Travels of Marco Polo, c. 1300
In Europe, people began to refer to Marco Polo’s book as “The Million”, meaning the million lies. What is ONE thing mentioned in the passage that Europeans would not have believed to be true and WHY? (Answer in at least three complete sentences.)